- Polymarket renamed its “Artemis II explodes?” market after widespread backlash.
- Critics, including academics and podcasters, labeled the bet as “evil” and a potential incitement to sabotage.
- The company argued it was a market on a hardware failure, not astronaut safety, before ultimately changing the title.
- This is not the first time the prediction market has hosted controversial wagers on tragic events.
Prediction market platform Polymarket faced intense criticism and renamed a controversial space mission wager on January 20 after users branded the company “evil“. The original market, “Artemis II explodes?” had attracted over $81,000 in trading volume.
However, the market sparked immediate outrage on social media platform X. Citations Needed podcast host Adam Johnson claimed that “markets wagering on people dying should not be legal!“
Aerospace engineering professor Dr. Chris Combs further argued the bet created a “financial incentive to sabotage a crewed space mission.” Consequently, Polymarket defended the market, stating it concerned a “booster-stage rupture” and not crew safety.
This explanation failed to satisfy critics, who continued to condemn the platform. Eventually, the company changed the market name to “Artemis II booster rupture?” for clarity.
Meanwhile, some economists supported the market’s existence for its informational value. Conversely, others noted authoritative figures would not use Polymarket for safety assessments.
Polymarket is no stranger to controversial markets, having previously hosted bets on tragedies like the Titan submersible and wildfires. More recently, arrests were made over bets allegedly using confidential Israeli military secrets.
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